11
Transport
RAPID and dense urban development, the growth of new towns and sustained activity places a heavy burden on Hong Kong's internal transport_ system. The smooth and efficient movement of people and goods is essential and, with a daily average of 8.6 million passenger trips on public transport and some 327 800 vehicles of all des- criptions and sizes in a small territory, the system needs careful co-ordination and management.
The overall objective is to maintain and improve the mobility of both people and goods through an integrated, multi-modal transport system. This involves a programme to improve the road network; expansion of public transport, especially off-road modes, to meet rising demand; and measures to achieve a more economic use of the limited road capacity. The task of achieving this falls mainly on the Transport Branch and Lands and Works Branch and, at the operational level, the Highways Office of the Engineering Development Department, the Transport Department, the Traffic Branch of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and the individual transport operators.
The main thrust of 1983 was to consolidate the achievements of 1982 and to sustain the momentum obtained in the smooth and efficient movement of people and goods in Hong Kong. –
The final phase of the electrification of the Kowloon-Canton Railway was completed and train services were extended to Lo Wu from July 15. Construction of the Mass Transit Railway Island Line was going ahead on schedule. Works on major road networks, such as the Hong Kong Island Eastern Corridor, the West Kowloon Corridor and the New Territories Trunk Road and Circular Road, were also progressing smoothly. The Aberdeen Tunnel was fully opened to traffic on March 14. L
Much effort during the year went into tackling the problems of road congestion. New traffic management schemes, which give priority to public transport, continued to be introduced wherever possible. In addition, as part of the budgetary proposals for 1983–4, the annual vehicle licence fees and the duty on petrol and diesel oil were further increased in February. These increases strengthened the effects of the tax, licence and duty measures introduced in May 1982 to restrain the rate of growth of private vehicles, resulting in an overall reduction of six per cent in the number of private vehicles registered in 1983 compared with 1982. But in spite of this, the level of congestion in major commercial and industrial areas is still serious. Other measures have to be found to reduce the use of vehicles in these areas at busy periods. In May, approval was given for the pilot stage of an Electronic Road Pricing System, the results of which will be ready for considera- tion in 1985. This has attracted considerable interest from many countries with similar problems.